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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Sciences
Discontinuities Concentrate Mobile Predators: Quantifying Organism-Environment Interactions At A Seascape Scale, Cristina G. Kennedy, Martha E. Mather, Joseph M. Smith, John T. Finn, Linda A. Deegan
Discontinuities Concentrate Mobile Predators: Quantifying Organism-Environment Interactions At A Seascape Scale, Cristina G. Kennedy, Martha E. Mather, Joseph M. Smith, John T. Finn, Linda A. Deegan
Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series
Understanding environmental drivers of spatial patterns is an enduring ecological problem that is critical for effective biological conservation. Discontinuities (ecologically meaningful habitat breaks), both naturally occurring (e.g., river confluence, forest edge, drop-off) and anthropogenic (e.g., dams, roads), can influence the distribution of highly mobile organisms that have land- or seascape scale ranges. A geomorphic discontinuity framework, expanded to include ecological patterns, provides a way to incorporate important but irregularly distributed physical features into organism–environment relationships. Here, we test if migratory striped bass (Morone saxatilis) are consistently concentrated by spatial discontinuities and why. We quantified the distribution of 50 …
Identification And Density Estimation Of American Martens (Martes Americana) Using A Novel Camera-Trap Method, Alexej P. K. Sirén, Peter J. Pekins, Peter L. Abdu, Mark J. Ducey
Identification And Density Estimation Of American Martens (Martes Americana) Using A Novel Camera-Trap Method, Alexej P. K. Sirén, Peter J. Pekins, Peter L. Abdu, Mark J. Ducey
Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series
Camera-traps are increasingly used to estimate wildlife abundance, yet few studies exist for small-sized carnivores or comparing efficacy against traditional methods. We developed a camera-trap to identify the unique ventral patches of American martens (Martes americana). Our method was designed to: (1) determine the optimal trap configuration to photograph ventral patches; (2) evaluate the use of temporally clustered photographs to determine independence and improve identification; and (3) determine factors that influence identification probability. We tested our method by comparing camera- and live-trap density estimates using spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models. The ventral patches of radio-collared martens were most visible when traps …